When summer left Corfu

 

 

 

So now we are headed for Corfu and another, different, look at the Ionian islands. Weather holding up just fine. 

 

And as we approach the time to pass close by Mt Olympus and the gods in a few days time, we have had our reminder from the Oracle of Chifley whose words from last blog are repeated above:

 

'Weather holding up just fine'. Not any more. It has been raining for most of the last two days and we are set for some English autumn cast off weather. Our days on the coast deferred. Our backup idea for the Archaeological museum thwarted as it is under renovation till September 2015 at earliest. So make and mend. A bit of TV, internet music, reading books, catch up on emails and other boring stuff. Great. More rain predicted on this the island supposed to be the greenest in all of Greece and the highest rainfall.

We are also supposed to be in late training for our bike ride. Well, you could call walking in the rain a form of training and the cobblestones are a doddle in these conditions. So yes we are getting a slightly different view of these islands.

But Corfu is a jewel of a small city with plenty of Venetian influence and a smattering of French and English influence. Still quite a few tourists around especially when the cruise ships unload their passengers as they do several times a day.

 

At least we are well away from our latest xenophobic manipulations down under and AG's over the top constraints on individual freedoms. But we are checking under our beds for bugs just in case. And generating plenty of metadata to be collected at great expense, most notably on young Anabelle, now three months old and making her presence felt. At this rate she will be tracked from cradle to grave in the icloud!

 

What a mess has been created since Keating left the scene. Nothing short of disgraceful but I guess you get what you deserve. At least until we get a chance to vote them out, eventually.

In the meantime we enjoy our multicultural educational trip and a great time together. I will also have to have a serious talk with those I left behind to mind the stock market whilst I was away. They have a few questions to answer.

Tomorrow our rest break ends and we are looking for ferry and bus connections to get to Meteora.

From your Paxos Pilgrims

Thanks to our friendly taxi driver we found ourselves settling into our room high up in the small hillside town of Parga. Several beaches mostly filled with English tourists. We find out later that the season has just ended and many tourists have gone back home.   But to us, this is enough for the little town to cope with.

 

 

After being on the move for a day and a half we needed time to recover. (Ed note; now a few days later when we land in Corfu, we see our intended 'Europeanlink' sitting forlornly at dock. This is the boat we were supposed to catch from Italy but, as per the following, a rock got in the way, apparently!).

http://gcaptain.com/europalink-captain-chief-officer-arrested-following-grounding/

 

 

The way out of town was one of two ways; to find a boat that would take us the next day to Paxos or to get a taxi ride back to Igoumenstia and from there catch one of the regular ferries. We had no luck with the local boatmen so we contacted our new best friend and set the time for the next day. We were getting back on track.

 

We had a good night's sleep and our hosts could not have been any friendlier. We also enjoyed a Greek breakfast in one of the many cafes operating along the Parga waterfront. And at 1100 we were in our taxi and flashing down the road to Igoumestia.

And after a quick stop at the bus station to pick up a schedule (we will need this in a few days time) we were settling onto our ferry and on our way to, we hoped, Paxos. After just two hours sailing and then quite a long walk along the inlet we were in our villa on the edge of Paxos and in another world. It felt good to be back into our planned routine.

 

 

Paxos was great. Our room was right on the water and the lapping waves sent us off to sleep perfectly. We were one of only two guests and received special attention at our palatial palace.

 

 We walked a few kilometres one day and found a great spot for lunch and a swim. We found out that the season is now over and things are already closing down and quite a few Greeks will shortly head back to Athens for the winter. The daily boats from the mainland are still coming and the numbers are there. But in just the couple of days we were in Paxos we could feel the numbers dropping off. Several quiet meals is great settings were enjoyed.

 

 

 

There were times when we had some places to ourselves or nearly so.  A secluded and quiet beach, a bit of sun and amazingly clear waters.  And then a short training walk back into Gaios town

and home.

And we met up with people running the Greek version of our impending Insel hupfen boat/sail tour in Turkey. After a chat we were shown over the boat with a view to doing the Greek version one day, which is reasonably flat. However we were told that bike riding on the Turkey trip is 'challenging'. Yvonne is pleased she took her bike option.

 

So now we are headed for Corfu and another, different, look at the Ionian islands. Weather holding up just fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ooops-Slight deviation

In 2005, when we last visited Greece,we went with our backpacks and moved by local bus and ferries. It worked well and I especially enjoyed the very long ferry trip from Crete to Lesvos. Over 24 hours and we slept on chairs outside on deck in a small wind protected area, enjoying the simple things. In fact I liken boat travel to walking as you really get a feel for the voyage and the subtle changes happening along the way.

 

And just to prove that we are still young enough to need not too many creature comforts on the road, we are trying a repeat ferry performance this year. This time we are in aircraft style seats and with bags with wheels as an indulgence.

 

 

At the start of the trip we are happy to say we are still a few years away from regular cruising it seems. Our ferry mates seem mostly a healthy mix of eastern european truck drivers and a few travellers. Not many women on board and probably no other Australians that we can glean. Barely any english to be heard anywhere as we check out the casual seating and dining areas where some serious card games are happening. Although when our quiet little seating area is invaded by about 40 turks, part of a Kabanya sports club tour group it seems, we go through about an hour of territorial dispute before things settle down. This is a very basic trip we have signed up for.

 

As we steam along the Adriatic and into the long night (the trip turned out to be about 23 hours long), we hear Hong Kong is enjoying riots, French pilots have yet again agreed to go back to work after striking (they have been in industrial turmoil since Bleriot first flew), Italy is besotted by Mr and Mrs George Clooney and Turkey (our final destination this trip) is still at the cross roads of the world.

 

As it turned out the ferry we were supposed to be on hit rocks the week before so was out of action for repairs and we were on an older and slower ferry – hence the 23 hours.
 

 

It so happens that we eventually arrived in Igoumenestis to find 'no ferry to Paxos today my friend.' So a slight change of plans and after a taxi ride with our friendly ferry meeting taxi driver, we end up in the small seaside town of Parga some 50 kms away. But more detail of that little deviation will come in our next blog.

We are not ship wrecked like Ulysses was around here and we are not dealing with the cyclops. What will tomorrow bring?

Leaving Italy via Ancona

 We moved by taxi/bus/train and shank's pony to our overnight stop in Ancona. An appropriate link as Randall recalled that his father, who would have turned 100 today, had also stopped overnight in Ancona in May 1945 as he was on his way to be repatriated to England, after spending most of his war time in Austria. And now we are heading to Greece where Randall's father had been part of yet another piece of political misjudgement. We will go over part of the area in Greece where the Allies were routed and quite close to where many Australians and Roy Kingsley were captured. Learning ancient and modern history as we go along.

Perhaps a little surprising for us but we have found that during our few days here, the Italians seem to be very relaxed and at ease with the world. Almost everyone is friendly and helpful when required. Stress levels seem very low indeed.

 

As a port city Ancona has its less attractive parts but we did enjoy a Sunday promenade along a very attractive main street, a wander through a large antique fair and a couple of rest stops for a drink and our evening meal.

On these trips I sometimes wonder why we travel this way with an almost constant need to figure out and then operate the various connections and bookings. The Web is a great thing and a boon for people like us with loads of useful information. But there is always the small stress of the unknown that raises the blood pressure just a tad as the time draws near for the next step in the travel plan to actually happen.

But we like it this way and we like the idea of spreading our spending locally as we go along. And for the first time, this trip we are stopping three nights where we used to work with two.

We could rationalise that by taking three days at a time, we get to know places better and we argue that in new places it takes about 24 hours to get a reasonable feel of the city/town.

But perhaps the hard reality is that maybe we ARE getting a bit older and slightly slower. Just kidding, plenty of life left in us yet.

That is it from Italy for now. Chow!!! (or do you have to say Ciao?) Looking forward to crossing the Adriatic tomorrow.

 

Urban Urbino 2014 style

There is no shortage of helpful people around in Italy, especially in train stations. Just one hesitation or glance around from someone who looks non Italian and bingo, a friendly face appears and help could be on the way.

Thanks in no part to such help we are now happily located just outside the walled city of Urbino, our only tourist stop on our way to the port city of Ancona and thence Greece. Our latest helper emerged in the 10 level bus/shopping/parking centre perched on the edge of Urbino as we were looking for our local bus stop and to get to our hotel. He followed us for a bit but disappeared when we asked a shopkeeper for directions.

 

Urbino is a walled city and has had a university for many years. Birthplace of painter Raphael it has a nice relaxed feel about it and we had a good day just wandering through the city and enjoying the ducal castle and some of the art here. The locals and many students were enjoying the sunshine today and there was no sense of urgency in life.

 

 

 The weather has remained on our side and it is just a tad cool as we are up in the hills from the Adriatic coastal strip. There are a few tourists about although most are Italian.

It is good to be part of places where people are just making their way in life and apparently enjoying the lifestyle they have. No political beat ups evident so far, just ordinary people living normal lives.

Buongiorno Milano

One day we were at home, part of self serving, partly alarmed and mostly self obsessed Team Australia and the next day we are sitting in sunny Milano, having enjoyed our parma ham and melon, slurping our gelato, fascinated with the surrounding, still snow capped mountains and acting as citizens of the world.

 

 

 

But the theme of the day has to include technology. As we are headed for Greece shortly, I recall that when we last visited there in 2005, we did have a netbook for internet and the blog. But we were using a film camera and a basic cell phone. And we thought we were over-doing it then.

 

This time we have four computers; ie two smart phones, an ipad and the old now not so trusty, slow but reliable netbook. And apparently we need them all. On the plane over, quite a few on the plane we taking selfies - why it is difficult to fathom.

 

But today I sat on a tourist bus fascinated as the youngster in front of me took a range of selfies using her remotely operated and tripod supported lens and an Inspector Gadget extendable arm with which she could almost reach the other side of the bus, passing other tourists as she lined up the next pics.

 

 And with the float of Ali Baba at just a few billion $$$$, we are only just at the beginning of serious technological change.

 

Milano is adapting itself to the changing times. It is modernising quickly but keeping the old good pieces. It is into eco changes with city supplied cars and bikes. The new buildings are state of the art and well set up with vertical gardens and plants. Bike helmets are sensibly rarely worn in the city centre area and bikes are popular and in use everywhere. And the people are friendly, laid back, unhurried and calm as they go about their day.

This is shoulder season for tourists I expect but there are plenty around. And a good sprinkling of Australians amongst them. As cocky as ever.

We are in good digs and Randall is very impressed with the way his pj's are laid out for him. A habit Y could adopt he thinks.

That is if Y could ever get off the ipad.

Our journey has begun well and we are relaxed and enjoying another chance to discover our other selves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost ready to go

Can one keep old man time at bay?   In 2010 we thoroughly enjoyed a bike/sail trip in the Dalmatian islands of Croatia.   So a similar challenge along the Lycian coast of Turkey seems logical.  After much discussion Randall has almost convinced Yvonne that we have still got it.  But he has had to add a few extras to the trip to get her to sign up.  A casual start in Milan Italy for a spot of shopping followed by a few days in hilltop town Urbino (Le Marche), a ferry ride to Corfu Greece and some days relaxing in the Ionian Islands, thence to Rhodes with some historic sightseeing.  He had to add these final training activities as an inducement.  It has worked so we are just about ready to go.

A further reward after our week on the Caferoglu is a few days in Cappadocia and after a final stop in Istanbul, we expect to be heading home.  A bit older, a bit wiser and perhaps a bit fitter.